Reasons
by Tania Darling
Summary: one shot.liz talks to norrington after the end of the movie


Disclaimer: I do not own anything, including the computer I'm typing this on, but also the movie and characters of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean.  
  
A/N :One shot, Norrington's secretary is a guy-cos of the era the movie is set in, and I hope I got his name right ;)  
  
Reasons  
  
Port Royal, shortly after Will rescued Jack Sparrow...  
  
Halfway through his grand declaration, Jack slipped and fell into the water  
  
"Idiot." exclaimed Gillette "He has nowhere to go but back to the noose."  
  
"Sail ho!" shouted a sentry  
  
"What's your plan of action?" asked Gillette urgently, when the Commodore didn't reply, he repeated "Sir?" "Perhaps on the rare occasion pursuing the right course demands an act of piracy, piracy itself can be the right course?" suggested Governor Swann, the Commodore smiled slightly-too quickly to be noticed.  
  
"Mr. Turner..."  
  
Will began to step forward, and Elizabeth tried to pull him back.  
  
"I will accept the consequences of my actions." He told her gently  
  
"This is a beautiful sword," said Norrington, unsheathing his sword, and briefly musing upon the fact that it would be a very simple thing to kill Turner where he stood.  
  
"I would expect the man who made it to show the same care and devotion in every aspect of his life." He finished, with a glance at Elizabeth.  
  
"Thank you." Said Will simply.  
  
"Commodore! What about Sparrow?" asked Gillette  
  
"Well, I think we can afford to give him one day's head start." Norrington answered confidently, sheathing his sword and leaving with the soldiers.  
  
"So, this is the path you've chosen, is it?" asked Elizabeth's father, sounding sceptical, "After all...he is a blacksmith." "No." said Elizabeth, removing Will's hat "he's a pirate" The Governor walked away and Will pulled Elizabeth close to him and kissed her.  
  
Some time later...  
  
Commodore Norrington was in his office, preparing the necessary paperwork for his pursuit of Jack Sparrow.  
  
"Commodore, you have a visitor," announced his secretary  
  
"Mr Anderson, I am extraordinarily busy, and I am not aware of any appointments scheduled for today"  
  
"Its Miss Swann, Sir" said Anderson, lowering his voice a little.  
  
"I see," said Norrington, stalling for time, "very well, show her in"  
  
Elizabeth, very hesitantly, entered the room and stood in front of the Commodore's desk.  
  
"Miss Swann, what can I do for you?" his voice contained no hint of any emotion, but Elizabeth still winced.  
  
"I was hoping you could spare me a few minutes, Commodore"  
  
"I wasn't aware we had anything left to say, Miss Swann"  
  
"There is one thing I would like to say, Commodore...Thank you"  
  
Norrington looked up at the uncomfortable young woman.  
  
"I have never wished for you to be unhappy, Elizabeth, and if marrying Turner is the only way for you to be happy, then so be it. I hold no grudge against either of you"  
  
"I am truly glad to hear it, James"  
  
"It would be proper, however for us to address one another formally from now on"  
  
"Of course, Commodore"  
  
Elizabeth started to move, Norrington raised a hand to forestall her.  
  
"I knew a woman like you once, headstrong and longing for adventure- she wanted to marry a common sailor"  
  
Elizabeth stopped; this was a side of the severely serious Commodore she had never seen before.  
  
"But her father arranged a marriage for her, to an older man, in the hope it would settle her down, 'make a proper woman of her' as he said"  
  
"What happened?" asked Elizabeth, quietly urging him to continue.  
  
"He was not as good a man as he seemed, the girl appealed to her family for help-but they dismissed her fears as childish stories. After a while, she stopped visiting her family, her husband passed along her regrets- she was ill, and needed lots of rest. One day her brother visited her, while her husband was away and she was home alone."  
  
Norrington turned his head away, momentarily silent.  
  
"The changes in the, formerly beautiful and outgoing young woman were astonishing. She had lost weight and was covered in bruises, but she insisted that it was the aftermath of illness and he accepted that.  
  
Some months later, he received a parcel from his sister, sent by the family's attorneys. Along with a letter from the attorneys themselves, telling him of his sister's death-as a result of her long illness. The contents of the parcel told a different story, it was her diary, in which she had recorded every detail of her unhappy marriage-including a suicide note"  
  
"That poor girl" Elizabeth gasped  
  
"Yes, she was only a girl," agreed Norrington, "Sixteen when she was married, eighteen when she took her own life. I cannot help but think, when I look at you and Mr Turner, that if her father had allowed her to marry below her station she would be a woman of twenty-five happily married to the man she wanted"  
  
"Who was she, James?" she asked softly, Norrington did not comment on her informality.  
  
"Annabelle Elizabeth Marie Norrington, My youngest sibling and only sister. You are so much like her; she too could have been a fine woman. Be happy in your life, Elizabeth, and I will consider all debts between us repaid"  
  
"Thank you, James" said Elizabeth, leaving the office. Norrington watched her go and looked outside; in his mind he saw the green fields of England and a beautiful brunette running barefoot through the grass.  
  
"Goodbye, Annie" he whispered to the world at large, "I hope you have found your happiness" 


End file.
